


Larger than a Titan

by Polywantsanother



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Canon Divergence - Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Gen, Post-Canon Fix-It, my baby deserves to live
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-05
Updated: 2018-05-04
Packaged: 2019-05-02 09:58:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,672
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14542236
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Polywantsanother/pseuds/Polywantsanother
Summary: Trying to keep spoilers out of summary so.Adventure post-snap





	Larger than a Titan

He couldn’t feel his body, but he could feel fear, pure unadulterated terror, and he could feel soul rending grief.

_ What made fear? Cortisol. Adrenaline. The vagus nerve could be affected causing a sense of impending death. Hormones and glands. _

_ Which means a body. _

Peter opened his eyes. The unending white he saw gave him immediate vertigo and he closed his eyes again. There was a sensation of falling, but more akin to what he felt before falling asleep instead of actually falling. 

He opened one eye, squeezing the other firmly closed. The white was not bright, it was just endless, and empty. Pushing himself up, Peter held out his hands to brace himself. He couldn’t tell where the floor ended and open air began. 

He opened both eyes, grounding himself only through the sensation of something under his feet. Looking around, he saw two distant dark shapes. He walked toward it.

As he got closer, the shapes became forms, then figures. They were people. One towered over the other and the smaller one was gesturing a lot. When he got close enough to make out features, Peter stopped. He recognized one of them. The smaller one had been on TV before, and on screens from SHIELD files. The taller one - the much, much taller one - wore a black cloak.

Loki was clearly angry with the one in the cloak. 

As Peter stared, a third person suddenly appeared. It was a woman in bright armor and long plaited hair. She stood and watched the other two argue before trying to speak up. Loki and the one in the cloak whirled toward her.

“WHAT?” They yelled in unison. The woman said her piece and the cloaked figure turned away, toward Peter.

“NO.” Loki said firmly, just as the cloaked figure saw Peter. Taking a step back, Peter felt a new shiver of fear ripple through him. The armored woman disappeared and Loki, finding the cloaked figure walking away, also turned.

And saw Peter.

“I, I, I, I’m sorry!” Peter stammered as now both of them advanced on him. The cloaked figure didn’t seem to get closer, but they did, apparently shrinking as they approached. Loki stomped after them, looking furious.

“My messenger has arrived.” A dry, thin voice seeped out from the darkness of the hood and Peter froze. 

“Your  _ messenger _ ?” Loki repeated, annoyed and mocking. The figure held up a hand, a skeletal hand with no tendons to hold the ancient gray finger bones together. Something rolled inside of Peter while Loki just looked sullen.

The figure turned back to Peter and brought their hand close to his face. Peter held his breath.

“So young.” The voice said. It was a statement of fact, with no emotion. If the figure felt sorrow at his youth, it was unnoticeable.

“Who are you?” Peter asked, his voice shaking and barely more than a whisper. The skeleton hand paused, then joined it’s pair up at the hood. 

“Forgive me. I,” The figure pushed back the hood. “Am Death.” The hood fell, and seemed to continue to fall. Or rather, it was like an invisible cloth was being draped over the figure. A gray skeleton of some unknown species - it’s grin both macabre and harmless with age - took on skin. The face of a beautiful dark skinned woman smiled gently at him, as the invisible cloth changed her black cloak into a dark blue suit. 

“ _ You _ are not the Goddess of Death.” Loki interjected, causing Death’s gentle smile to crumble into a deeply set frown. “I know the Goddess of Death.” Death whirled on him, long braids flying out in a fan as she moved.

“You know the Goddess who  _ brings _ death. I am no mere God of anything, not an avatar with powers.” She spat out the last word and Loki finally began to pay attention. “I. Am. DEATH.” With a sigh, Death put fingers to her forehead with her eyes closed.

“That was a toxic relationship.” She muttered. Opening one eye, she looked at Peter. “You think you find someone who understands, and they’re pretty, so you overlook a  _ lot  _ of red flags. Like murder. I’m willing to accept a certain amount of murder.” As she spoke, she moved her hand away from her head and wove it through the air. But upon seeing Peter’s stricken expression, she faced him and smiled once again.

“Welcome Peter.” She said and then threw out her arms. “Welcome to the afterlife!”

“This is, the afterlife?” Peter asked and glanced over his shoulder. It was still just one, empty expanse of white.

“It’s more like my reception room. A lobby, if you will.” Death replied as Peter returned his gaze to her.

“So I’m dead.” He stated, feeling the claws of grief run through him again. Then Death made a noise and bobbed her head from side to side.

“Eh, not  _ exactly _ .” Death said and then stuck her thumb out at Loki. “Not like this guy.”

“Excuse me.” Loki started but Death held up a hand again.

“This asshole needs to get to Valhalla before I send him somewhere  _ worse. _ ” She said, her voice becoming a hiss at the end.

“I think you’ll find that we can come to some sort of arrangement.” Loki insisted. Death opened her mouth and even started to move toward Loki, when Peter interrupted.

“If I’m not dead, what am I?” He asked.

“Excellent question. I’m not sure.” Death held out an arm and gestured Peter closer. He stepped tentatively into her embrace and she draped her arm over his shoulders, turning him and starting to walk. 

“See, something cosmic happened that made quite a lot of people cease to exist. The issue is that, you can’t just erase a life like it never existed unless you take all of life. A life interacts with other life and when those lives touch well, look.” Death paused their movement and waved her other hand. Two differently colored orbs appeared, some distance apart from each other. With a flick of her wrist, death sent the two orbs at each other. They slid by each other but Peter could see a mark of color one orb had left of the other.

“You understand this concept. Molecules will be rubbed off on each other. Electrons jump from one atom to another. Fall on the blacktop and you’ll leave some skin behind.” Death went on and vanished the orbs. “Your life has made contact with a fair number of others. Parts of you are still left back on Earth. Parts that cannot be erased.” Urging him forward, Peter and Death continued to walk. As they did, the white began to take on the form of Central Park.

“But, dying does that too.” Peter countered and Death gave him an incredulous look.

“Oh Peter. You’re a genius, you know why that’s different.” She replied. Looking down at his feet, Peter nodded.

“The body decomposes. The atoms don’t go anywhere.” He said softly.

“Exactly!” Death clapped him on the shoulder and Peter was jostled. “Conservation of mass. Your dead body rots and breaks down into basic elements and heat to be used in something else. So, my smart boy, the issue I have here is that a large amount of mass ended up in my realm. I don’t work with mass. I work with death. With,” Lost for words, Death looked bloated and shook her free hand out in front of them. “Souls.” She blanched after saying the word and looked at Peter. “I don’t have the proper word in your linguistic capacities.” 

“So what do you need me for?” Peter asked. “Why am I your messenger?” Death stopped and pulled him around, putting her hands on his shoulders.

“Because you are the most honest person that got sent here during the event.” She said softly. “And I know you will tell me everything I need to know with,” Death paused to glare off to the side where they had left Loki. “ _ No  _ agenda.” Patting his shoulders, Death walked away from him and sat down on a bench. 

Peter looked around. It looked exactly like Central Park, and he couldn’t see any of the white place they had left. He could feel the sunshine on his skin, or he thought he could. There were still the sounds and smells of the city, but the park was empty. 

There was only Death, on a bench, waiting for him.

Peter walked over, feeling the sluggishness that comes with sadness, and sat down. He propped his elbows on his knees, and cradled his head in his hands.

“Is,” His voice was cut off as his throat tightened abruptly. He cleared it with a weak, stuttering cough and tried again. “Is my aunt here?” 

“She is.”

“And Ned?”

“And MJ and ninety-seven percent of everyone you ever so much as walked by.” Peter was quiet as he began to cry. Death put her hand on his back and rubbed small circles.

Sucking on shuddering breaths, Peter angrily rubbed his eyes. Sitting back, he glared down at the dirt. 

“Mr. Stark?” 

“Alive I’m afraid. Still out there with whatever caused this.” She answered. When Peter began to cry again, she collected him into her arms and rocked him gently. “Ah, my poor, sweet boy.” 

It took many moments for Peter to calm down enough to speak. When he felt able, he looked sheepishly up at Death.

“I’m sorry.” He started, but she stopped him with a look. Again, she reached out toward his face and lightly cupped his cheek. 

“Death is nothing but patient my dear. I tend not to hurry when I don’t have to.” She released him and let Peter sit back on his own. “Now, tell me what happened.” 

Peter told her everything he knew, starting with slipping onto the spaceship with Mr. Stark and Doctor Strange. He went through the events as best as he could remember and explained how he had slipped away. 

How he had clung to Mr. Stark and still crumbled. 

Death listened quietly, never once stopping him to ask a question. When he faltered, she waited patiently for him to compose himself and continue. When he finished, she put an arm over the back of the bench, holding her hands together and angling herself on the bench to regard Peter.

“You took the gauntlet off his hand?” She asked. Peter gave one weak laugh and nodded before looking down at the ground. “I am so very proud of you Peter. You never know when to quit.” She nudged him with her knee and he looked over at her. “I look forward to collecting your soul at the proper time.” It was a compliment, he was sure of that, but it was so out of the realm of normal that Peter was stunned. Death threw back her head and laughed.

“Alright.” She stated firmly as she stopped laughing. She stood and waved her hand. Quite suddenly, Loki arrived, looking confused and flustered. Death ignored him and addressed Peter.

“You are not supposed to be here. And if this is truly the work of the Infinity Stones, then it is simply a cosmic event constrained by dimensional parameters.” She said. “Luckily, I exist outside of all such parameters and cosmic events mean nothing to me.” 

“So, you can undo this?” Peter asked excitedly, standing now as well. 

“As things are right now, I cannot undo any of it. Only resolve it.” Death replied.

“And what does that mean?” Loki inquired. 

“It means I can kill every single entity that was sent here and put the mass back into the universe, thus restoring my realm’s much needed balance.” Death answered. Then, cracking her neck over at an unnatural angle, glared at Loki. “And forcibly send you to Valhalla you ungrateful little twat.” 

“Uhm, Ms. Death?” Peter said.

“Mx.” Death corrected and straightened her neck out. “I’m not keen on your human binary.” 

“Mx. Death, is there anything you can do?” Peter asked. “I’m not really keen on, this.” Death smiled in amusement and put her hands in her pockets. 

“You know, out of all the versions of you I’ve met, I am the most fond of you.” She said. As Peter’s face twisted in confused alarm, she went on. “And yes, I can.”

“What?” Peter asked.

“Well, you see, I was one of the ones who made the Infinity Stones.” Death said.

“ _ One of _ ?” Loki asked just as Peter spoke. 

“What do you mean, made?” He inquired.

“The Infinity Stones are only infinite in a metaphorical kind of way. They have a shape do they not? Gems or whatever. Even those of us who exist outside of the dimensions have a beginning, so even we are not infinite. Technically, the Void isn’t either since  _ something _ exists within the  _ nothing _ but the  _ nothing  _ is infinite and anyway, I’ve been thinking about this for eons and frankly, it’s gotten old and I no longer care.” Death spoke quickly as she rambled and Central Park started to fade away.

“Uh, Mx. Death?” Peter prompted and Death snapped back to attention. Central Park reformed, but Peter still felt unsure on his feet. 

“Sorry.” Death said. “The point is, four of us made the stones and we are connected to them. But we can’t handle most cosmic energy due to our own composition, so we attached something to each stone. The life that has to be paid to obtain the Soul Stone creates the energy I need for that connection.” 

“A life is connected to the stone?” Loki clarified. 

“Yes.” Death said sharply, then softened toward Peter. “If you find each connection to the stones, you can bring them to me and I can manipulate the Infinity Stones from here.” 

“But, how do I do that?” Peter asked, feeling panic start to bubble up into his chest. 

“You’re a smart boy plus,” Death reached out and grabbed the front of Loki’s shirt, pulling him roughly to the center. “You have the Space Stone’s favorite bearer here!” 

“Me?” Loki sputtered nonsensically and Death’s lip curled. Peter stretched out his arm in front of Loki and stepped forward.

“Who are the other three?” He asked. Death calmed, letting out a breath. 

“My sister Infinity, my brother Eternity, and Eternity’s brat, Entropy.” Death scratched idly at her jaw, opening her mouth as she thought. “I created the Soul Stone, Entropy helped me with Reality, he made the Power stone on his own; Eternity made Space, Infinity made Time, and the two of them together made the Mind Stone.” 

“And there is a person attached to each stone?” Peter went on.

“There is. Only life seems to bridge the different energies, allowing us to interact with the stones. But you will need to find each one who is linked to each stone. As much as I wish the Space Stone was linked to this idiot, I do not sense a bond. He could still be helpful though.” Death said. 

“But you know who is linked with your stone, correct?” Loki questioned.

“Gamora. Yes, but I cannot bring her to you.” Death said. 

“Why not?” Peter asked quickly, before Loki could start.

“She is not ready. And I will not rush her.” Death added, looking pointedly at Peter. “You can go and convince her.” 

“If we do this,” Peter said and looked at Loki. “If we collect all of the links, will you fix this?”

“I will fix everything.” Death said. She waved a hand and Central Park disappeared in a rush. Instead, there was now a large metal archway. Multicolored clouds shifted within it, and it repulsed Peter. 

“Plus, I don’t think Wade would appreciate it if I let any of your incarnations die needlessly.” Death muttered. 

“Wha-” Peter started but Death put a hand on either man’s back and began to push them forward.

“I’ll know once you get to Gamora. Off you go now!” She said and shoved both Loki and Peter through the archway. “Good luck!”


End file.
